We want our road back say fed-up Caldbeck Drive residents

Motorists avoiding town centre parking charges have made a congested road ‘an accident waiting to happen’.

Neighbours in Caldbeck Drive, Woodley, claim their street has become a car park, leaving them unable to use their driveways and often risking collisions on the tight carriageway.

Dozens signed a petition five years ago calling for action to be taken. Yellow lines were painted at the road’s junctions, but residents feel this has only solved part of their plight.

Joseph Bidgood, 80, said: “I’ve been here 44 years.

“When we first came there was no trouble at all – you didn’t have to pay for the car park.

“Then, as soon as they started charging, drivers came here.

“It’s shocking now, it’s an accident waiting to happen. The road has been blocked a few times.

“We can’t get off our own drive without going on a kerb. It’s a bit much.”

Terry Barnes, 50, added: “Quite often you see notes on people’s cars. There’s a blind bend and when cars come the other way you have nowhere to pull in because people are using the road for parking.”

Marcus Aurelius says he has seen dustbin lorries driving on the pavement because the width of the road is so limited, and he has been forced to drive his car across his lawn to get out as his driveway was blocked by inconsiderate motorists.

The 76-year-old said: “There is a cut-through to Headley Road car park at the top of the road where you can walk through to the shops, which is very convenient.

“When the schools are on they park all the way round, but the police don’t do anything about it.

“It’s really beyond a joke.

“It’s getting so bad I don’t understand how they are getting away with it.”

Councillor Keith Baker, Wokingham Borough Council’s executive member for strategic planning and highways, said: “We received a petition from a resident in 2007, but it didn’t have enough signatures.

“It didn’t represent those people living at the end of the road who would be affected by new parking restrictions.

“If parked vehicles aren’t causing a road safety issue, they are perfectly entitled to be there. Police have not contacted us to say they are concerned about parking in Caldbeck Drive.”

The neighbourhood police team is aware of the frustrations and has been ticketing cars parked across dropped kerbs in the street.